=== 2003-04 New York Islanders Preview ===

By Chris Ruddick, Contributing NHL Writer

(My Sportsbook) - The New York Islanders were one of the bigger disappointments in the league last season, despite a second straight trip to the postseason.

After missing the playoffs seven consecutive years, Peter Laviolette brought the Isles back to the postseason in 2001-02 and fans in Long Island thought that was just the first step in returning their team to its glory years of the early '80s.

Things did not go as planned though.

Team leader Michael Peca missed the first month and a half of the year with a knee injury sustained in the 01-02 playoffs and the team struggled out of the gates with a 5-11-1-0 start.

New York wound up finishing third in the Atlantic Division (35-34-11-2) with 83 points, 13 shy of the mark they set in Laviolette's maiden voyage. Still and all, the Isles made the playoffs as the eighth seed in the conference. It wasn't like New York finished with a flourish, though, to make the postseason, as the team won just six times over the last 21 games and was awarded the spot almost by default.

After winning the first game of their playoff series with the Ottawa Senators, the Isles went away without a whimper in losing the next four games by a combined 13-4 margin.

General manager Mike Milbury then made a bit of a surprising move by firing Laviolette and replacing him with AHL coach and longtime company man Steve Stirling. What was so surprising about the move was not the fact that Laviolette was fired, because there had been whispers that he had lost control of the team and was never really liked in the locker room.

The big surprise is that Milbury is STILL able to hold his job. Since becoming just the third GM in team history back in 1995, Milbury has now had seven different coaches, including himself on a few occasions.

For the second consecutive summer after their free-spending frenzy in 2001, the Isles were relatively quiet on the free agent front. However, they did go out and acquire free agent right wing Mariusz Czerkawski, a former top scorer the Islanders traded away last year.

AT THE HELM - The 53-year-old Stirling has coached mostly at the collegiate and minor league levels. However, he was named The Hockey News' minor pro coach of the year, as he led Bridgeport to the Calder Cup. Before joining the Islanders' organization six years ago, Stirling worked under New Jersey Devils general manager Lou Lamoriello.

Stirling, who had a bit part in the movie Slap Shot, is known as a players' coach and should be well-recieved in the locker room. Current Isles who have played for him at Bridgeport have praised his ability to relate to players of all skill levels.

ON THE ATTACK - If the Islanders want to have any success this season, they must get big bounce-back seasons from their two stars, Peca and Alexei Yashin.

Peca, who returned on a regular basis in the middle of November, was coming back from a major knee surgery and a shoulder operation. He scored just 13 goals and had 42 points in his 66 games, wearing down at the end as a result of rushing his rehab and return to the lineup.

He is healthy, though, from the start this year and that should only help linemates Mark Parrish and Shawn Bates, both of whom struggled due to Peca's problems. After a career-best season in 2001-02 (30g, 30a), Parrish found the back of the net 23 times last season, while assisting on 25 others and playing at minus-11. Bates, meanwhile, also saw a drop in production and finished with 13 goals and 29 assists.

At least Peca had a reason why his game was off. Yashin, on the other hand was just downright brutal, even being taken off the power play unit late in the season, as the team was fighting for their playoff lives.

Yashin (26g, 39a), who had four points in their five-game playoff loss to the Senators, has publicly stated that he wants better linemates. Last year he played with Aaron Asham and Oleg Kvasha, who are nice players, but not people you want your franchise center skating between.

So, Milbury went out and signed Czerkawski, who is coming off a dreadful year with the Montreal Canadiens. The 31-year-old native of Poland scored just five goals and had nine assists in 43 games last season, but Milbury is hoping he and Yashin click.

As Peca and Yashin's lines struggled, it was the checking line of the Islanders that shined. The rugged trio of Dave Scatchard, Jason Blake and Jason Wiemer was by far and away the Isles' best unit.

Scatchard poured in a career-high and team-leading 27 goals, while Blake tallied 25 markers. Wiemer had nine goals and 19 assists for 28 points and was plus-5 with 116 penalty minutes in 81 games. He also served as the bodyguard for the agitating Blake who had a career-best season, adding 30 assists for 55 points and he finished plus-16. Scatchard added 18 assists and was plus-9.

Other players figuring to chip in include youngsters Mattias Weinhandl and Trent Hunter, two favorites of Stirling.

ON DEFENSE - The Islanders might possess the top defensive unit in all of hockey. Their top-four are as good as it gets with Janne Niinimaa, Roman Hamrlik, Kenny Jonsson and Adrian Aucoin anchoring the blue line.

How Stirling gets players such as Eric Cairns, Radek Martinek and Mattias Timander to mesh with the quarter remains to be seen, but he is already on the right track.

Stirling has said that he will employ one defensive system and stick with it all season, something players were asking Laviolette to do last year.

Aucoin finished second only to Norris Trophy winner Nicklas Lidstrom among NHL defenseman by averaging 29 minutes a game, but is coming off a poor season. He scored eight goals and had 27 assists, but that was a 28-point reversal from the previous year. An alternate captain, Aucoin called out the team after the season, including himself, saying New York should be embarrassed by what happened.

IN THE CREASE - The future is now for the Islanders between the pipes, as former No. 1 overall selection Rick DiPietro gets ready to start his first full season as the team's starting goaltender.

The 22-year-old former Hockey East Rookie of the Year became the first goalie ever taken with the first pick back in 2000 and fans on Long Island have waited patiently for his time to come at the big league level ever since.

That wait came to an end at last year's trade deadline when the team dealt Chris Osgood to the St.Louis Blues, paving the way for DiPietro's impending arrival.

Garth Snow, who played well for the Islanders after the Osgood trade and into the playoffs, was re-signed to a deal over the summer, but make no mistake this is DiPietro's team.

DiPietro was 2-5-2 last season for the Islanders, who called him up on five different occasions. Under Stirling at Bridgeport, he posted a 16-10-8 mark with a 2.14 goals-against.

X-FACTOR - Yashin has to be better, plain and simple. As the team's highest paid player there is an added burden of being able to take the team upon his shoulders when he has to. Rarely, if ever, did Yashin do that last season. His linemates changed almost on a nightly basis and Laviolette lost faith in him down the stretch. Hopefully having Czerkawski on his line will help Yashin become the playmaker many on the Island want.

WHEN ALL IS SAID AND DONE - The pieces are there for the Islanders. Laviolette, it would appear from the surface, got a raw deal from Milbury, who at some point has to answer to somebody. Peca will bounce back and Yashin will thrive with Czerkawski on his side, with Stirling reaping the benefits, while Laviolette watches. DiPietro will also be much more comfortable knowing it is his team. The Islanders will finish middle of the pack in the Eastern Conference and have a chance at winning a series or two in the postseason.